Does a 375 H&H only headspace on the belt?

[saskgunowner101]

Just a question to the guys who might know the answer. How do you go about reloading the 375 H&H magnum? Do you set back the shoulder, and headspace off the belt, or do you minimally push back the shoulder, headspacing off the shoulder, and not worry about the belt?

There's a discussion on another forum where some of the guys 375 H&H brass gave up the ghost after 3 loadings. I suggested that maybe the shoulder was being pushed back too far, and partial full length sizing may help, but was told there would be too much slop, and an unsupported case near the belt.

I had a google, and it seems others have luck sizing/ headspacing off the shoulder, so what's the right answer?

 

[bigedp51]

Any belted case can be resized to headspace off the shoulder which should help the case from stretching above the belt.

"BUT" this can depend on the chamber and your dies and how much the brass is worked. Sometimes the case just above the belt is not sized down enough in diameter.

No matter the case design you want as little head clearance or air space between the rear of the case and the bolt face, this is what causes the case to stretch and thin.

This is what they mean when they say bump the shoulder back .001 or .002 and having minimum head clearance.

I would highly recommend the Hornady cartridge case headspace gauge for measuring a fired case and setting the die for minimum shoulder set back.

 

[Dogleg]

You can partial full-length size the .375 case and almost certainly solve the separation problem. It is conceivable, but not likely that PFL cases could have chambering problems.

There's a discussion on another forum where some of the guys 375 H&H brass gave up the ghost after 3 loadings. I suggested that maybe the shoulder was being pushed back too far, and partial full length sizing may help, but was told there would be too much slop, and an unsupported case near the belt

The "slop" part is exactly backwards, if anything there will be less slop. Head-spacing on the shoulder will force belt back from seating in its recess, but that is a good thing since it also forces the case-head against the boltface. The area in front of the belt is a thick web and their "unsupported" theory is, well, unsupported.

 

[Gatehouse]

You can partial size the case which should help the problem. I once loaded for an HH with pretty generous chamber dimensions and would make a bit of a false shoulder with the neck via partial sizing.

The real solution though is to buy a 375 Ruger.

 

[saskgunowner101]

Thanks for the input guys. I didn't think a belted case would be that much different than a regular casing, but thought I'd ask.